Catbird Stats, LLC (KC); Florida International University (GK)
2023-11-16
There are multiple purposes for keeping tabular data in spreadsheets:
Relational database!
Access
Oracle
MySQL
(of a well-built relational database)
“Front end” / “Back end”
enter data in a human-friendly way
data storage is computer-friendly
all the linkages happen without you having to think about them
Queries - you can pull data back out in different ways
e.g., if you wanted the lat/long and habitat information associated with each individual sampling event or even individual fish
some info on queries, and mention thinking about this during database design too
not just for others, but for you and future you and future colleagues down the road
At its most basic: who, what, why, where, how
add details
Different ways - SWMP metadata, EML
Important thing is to capture the information - reformatting down the road is much easier than if you’d never written it down in the first place
2023 NERRS Meeting